Prakash Rai (Tulu: ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ರೈ born in 1965), also known as Prakash Raj, is an Indian method actor and producer in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil language films. Prakash Rai was born in Mangalore and his mother tongue is Tulu. Now he has shifted his base to Chennai due to numerous offers from Telugu and Tamil films. He was persuaded to change his last name from Rai to Raj by veteran South-Indian director Kailasam Balachander. Prakash Rai studied in St.Joseph's High School in Bangalore. He won the President's Scout award in 1982. At school he was well known for his talents which brought him and the schools numerous honours, he was also an active member and a good leader. He later joined St. Josephs College of commerce, Brigade road, Bangalore, where he participated in many plays, most of which were in Kannada. He was also good at debates. He has acted in Kannada ,Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. His original name 'Prakash Rai' in Kannada screen was rechristened to 'Prakash Raj' by K. Balachander for Prakash Rai's debut movie 'Duet'. Prakash Raj began his acting career with Kannada DoorDarshan serials like Bisilu Kudure and Guddada Bhootha. He later took up small supporting roles in kannada films like Raamachari, Nishkarsha, Lockup Death and etc and was noticed for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in form of Harakeya Kuri starring Vishnuvardhan and Geetha, directed by K S L Swamy. His performance in the movie was noticed by Geetha and she in turn introduced him to her mentor, the noted director K. Balachander. Prakash Rai re-entered Kannada films with a bang through Nagamandala in 1997, directed by T.S Naghabarana. Prakash Rai is a very famous actor in South India for a wide variety of roles he has performed, most notably as a villain and of late, as a character artiste, in Tamil and Telugu. He is considered to be one of the most natural actors in the film industry, and has a good reputation for his acting skills. He is also the highest paid villain in Indian cinema. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. In 1997, he acted in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar, alongside Superstar Mohanlal. The movie was about the relationship between politicians M.G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, which he won the best supporting actor award alongside Mohanlal, who won the best actor award. One of Prakash Rai's greatest hits was his role of Villain in telugu film Okkadu, where he plays the role of factionist, a gangster who is in love with Bhoomika Chawla. After Okkadu, Prakash Raj was flooded with offers. The film was remade in Tamil as Ghilli. The same movie got remade in Kannada as Ajay starring Puneet Rajkumar. The versatile actor then co-starred with major stars and also acted in movies with newcomers. His 2007 production Mozhi, where he played an important role, was a box office hit and praised by critics proving that he can play a comedy role just as good as playing a negative character. Prakash Raj has already had four releases this year, all in which he plays a prominent role. He is acting in more than half a dozen films at the moment including his own production, Abhiyum Naanum. His latest production venture in Tamil Mozhi, directed by Radhamohan, starring himself, Jyothika, Prithviraj and Swarnamalya was a blockbuster. He recently acted as a rich businessman in Venkat Prabhu's second film Saroja, a box-office hit. < Read lessRead more >